September 27, 2001
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The error was the result of confusion on the part of the Italian press.

When the scientist Antinori announced his plan to clone human beings, the Italian news agency ANSA published a dispatch in which it echoed statements from an interview with Cardinal Ratzinger in the August-September issue of Inside the Vatican magazine.

On Aug. 7, the Turin daily La Stampa combined the two items -- Antinori´s announcement and the cardinal´s interview -- in one article, establishing an improper relation.

According to La Stampa, the prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith accused Antinori of Nazi practices, which was not true.

In fact, the cardinal´s interview with Inside the Vatican took place many months before.

Press agencies, among them ZENIT, published articles based on the erroneous report in La Stampa. ZENIT apologizes for its part in the error.